State

State of Play [Blu-ray]
$39.98
The Bottom Line:

When you walk away and think about the plot of State of Play there are a dozen plot holes and the denouement falls rather flat, but it works as a solid thriller while you're watching it, providing two hours of fast-moving entertainment without seeming to insult your intelligence; if you want a disposable 120 minutes of movie fun, by all means check this film out.

3/4

The State: The Complete Series
$79.99
A few years ago, a friend of mine found his old VHS copy of "The State: Skits & Stickers", and we got together with a few friends to relive one of our favorite shows from our high school days. It was... not nearly as good as we remembered. It was actually pretty disappointing. Since that time, however, I've kept up on the cast members' other works, and became a huge fan of Stella in particular. So when The State DVD was finally released (finally!), I decided to give it a chance, and... it was not as nearly as not good as I remembered. In fact, it was pretty good, and I was greatly relieved. A lot of the sketches aren't all that great, but plenty of them are just as funny as ever. Personally, I don't miss the music that was in the original show that got replaced because I don't remember it (other than a few very obvious selections), so that's not a big deal for me. But what really makes it worthwhile are all the special features. Particularly the commentary by the cast, which is always fun to listen to, and often times more entertaining than the actual sketches. It's great to hear how the cast has grown, and how they can poke fun at what they thought might be funny 10 years ago. To any fans of the cast, or anyone who has fond memories of the show but is on the wall about whether to pick up this DVD... I can sort of guarantee that you probably won't be very disappointed!

Enemy of the State
$14.99
The relevance of this film is strikingly frightening
today.

The unsuspecting John Q Public (Will Smith) is on
the run, even stripping down to his boxers to symbolize
the insecurity of the average Amercian by the
ever-intrusive government sworn to uphold our ineffective
Constitutional Rights; highlighting modern technology gone
rampant under the guise of protecting our supposedly
inherent natural rights. The right to privacy is trampled
on by NSA agents (portrayed as young prying clowns)under
the command of a nefarious reptile played to a T by Jon
Voight.

The players in the system of illusory rights hound
John Q Public since he unknowingly carries on him
evidence of a Congressman's death and it's at this
point where things slowly unfold for the naive citizen
as he is relentlessly chased by Big Brother via satellites,
ATM and tunnel cameras, cell phone signal tracking, bugs,
etc. hitting home the film's point: privacy is a thing of
the past. It even points out that a natural serene pond
view of geese isn't a safe place for some privacy. The film
gains steam midway as a paranoidal ex-NSA agent, Brill
(Hackman) literally knocks some sense into John Q and
shows him the painful truth; the truth that Joe Blow
easily dismissed during a scene earlier into the movie.

Released almost 3 years prior to 9/11, "Enemy of the State"
bombards the senses with quick editing, hyper-action, and
loud jolts of sound as if to say, "Wake up!" Orwell has been
rolling in his grave for some time now. One reviewer pointed
out Brill's birthday of 9/11 in a quick flash scene. If only
this was a coincidence and not a confirming nod to those who
are privy numerologists, but considering the studio which
released this film it should be of no surprise.

So sit back, crack open a can of soda and pop open a bag
of popcorn and pay witness to one man's life quickly turned
upside down by a power hungry, guilt-ridden government
seeking safety under its ever-intrusive eye.

State of Play (BBC Miniseries)
$34.98
I ordered this series long before the movie came out. I really enjoyed it and was quite excited when I heard the story was being made into a film starring one of my absolute favs, Helen Mirren. This BBC series is MUCH better than the film. The relationships are explored more fully and I found the ending of the series much more satisfying. If you saw the film and liked it, I think you will prefer this series version.